In the past, various and sundry apparatus and methods have been utilized for forming edgewise wound cores adapted for use in dynamoelectric machines. For instance, in some of the past apparatus and methods for forming edgewise wound cores, a continuous strip of a generally thin ferromagnetic material was deformed or bent generally edgewise thereof into a plurality of helical convolutions. Of course, various different techniques were employed to effect the edgewise deformation of the continuous strip into the helical convolutions thereof. Subsequent to the edgewise deformation of the continuous strip into the helical convolutions thereof, such helical convolutions were collected or wound about a winding arbor therefor so as to form a generally axial stack of the helical convolutions. When the generally axial stack of helical convolutions so collected attained a preselected stack height or length to define the edgewise wound core being formed, the operation of some of the past apparatus for forming such cores was interrupted to permit severance of a respective one of the helical convolutions and the removal of the edgewise wound core from the winding arbor. In some cases an operator manually removed the edgewise wound cores from the winding arbor on which they were formed, and in other instances, a stripper or pusher was automatically operable to move the formed edgewise wound core from the winding arbor onto another aligned arbor. Of course, the above described intermittent operation of some past apparatus was repetitive thereby to intermittently effect the formation of a plurality of edgewise wound cores from the continuous strip. At least one of the disadvantageous or undesirable features of the above discussed past apparatus is believed to be that the intermittent operation thereof may have resulted in an unnecessarily limited production capacity.
In another of the past apparatus and methods of forming edgewise wound cores, the operation of such apparatus was continuous thereby to effect a continuous edgewise deformation of the continuous strip into a plurality of helical convolutions thereof, and the continuous helical convolutions were collected or wound generally in an axial stack thereof about the winding arbor generally in the same manner as discussed hereinabove with respect to the past intermittently operable apparatus. When a preselected length of the continuously formed helical convolutions had been collected in the axial stack on the winding arbor so as to define an edgewise wound core, a respective one of the helical convolutions was severed. The formed edgewise wound core was stripped either by hand or automatically from the winding arbor on which it was wound to another aligned stripping arbor, and during such stripping, a successive one of the edgewise wound cores was being wound from the continuous helical convolutions received on the winding arbor therefor. While this type of continuously operable apparatus undoubtedly exhibited many salient features, at least one of the disadvantageous or undesirable features of such apparatus is believed to be that it was operable only in a generally horizontal plane. Another disadvantageous or undesirable feature of such apparatus is believed to be that the entire axial stack of helical convolutions were formed into an edgewise wound core on the winding arbor therefor and then moved to a stripping arbor with each arbor having a length to accept such edgewise wound core may have resulted in an overly long or cumbersome arbor combination. Still another disadvantageous or undesirable feature is believed to be that a separate stripping device was employed to strip the edgewise wound core from the winding arbor into the stripping arbor with yet other means being employed to effect the stripping or removal of the edgewise wound core from the stripping arbor.